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In "Continental Congrefs." 



" liesolval That the consideration of tha first ResolulUm* be postponed till the first Monday in July next, and, in the meanwhile, that no time 
be lost incateikf Congress agree therdn . a committee be appointed to prepare a declaration , to the effect ot the hrst resolution, whicn is in these 
words towit—' That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are absolved from all allegi- 
ance to the British Crown ; and that all political connection between them and the Stateoftireat Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. ' " 

The above Resolution was unanlnioiisly adopted, and on the following day a Committee of five : 
Thomas JelFerson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Eoger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, — 
appointed for its furtherance. Tlie duty was assigned to Mr. Jefferson, and we herewith present a 
FAc-srwiLE of the originai. Declaration of Independence, as drawn up by his hand, and submitted 
by him to the Committee. It received their cordial approval ; and, with a few verbal and non- 
essential alterations made by Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams, was reported to Congress on the day 
designated. The character of our work leaves little more to be said by way of introduction, nor 
need we allude to the debate and amendments which attended its final adoption. 

Claiming for the Miniature Biographical Sketches which accompany, no especial merit, we have 
at the same time aimed to give data and incidents which will be acceptable and of interest to every 
reader, of those who pledged life and fortune for American Independence, and who first unfurled 
the standard of Freedom. To enkindle afresh our gratitude for their services — to add yet another 
tribute to their memory — and to arouse the same patriotic feelings which prompted those " fearless 
Champions on the side of right — Men at whose Declabation Empires trembled," is the wish of 

L. S. 



» Introduced by Kichard Henry Lee, of Virginia, four days preyiousi and in his eloquent and patriotic advocacy for its adoption, as recorded 
by Botta, concluded as follows :— " Why then, sir, do we longer delay 1 Why still deliberate 1 Let this happy day give birth to an American 
republic! Let herarise.nottodevastate and conquer, butto re establish the reign of peace and law. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us; 
she demands of us a living example of freedom that m>iy exhibit a contrast, in the felicity of the citizen, to the ever-increasing tyranny which 
desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum, where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repose. .She 
entreats us to cultivate a projiitious soil, where that geuuine plint, which fir.it sprang and grew in England, but is now withered by the blasts 
of Scottish tyranny, may revive and flourish, sheltering under its salubrious and interminable shade all the unfortunate of the human race If 
wearenotthisday wanting in our duty to ourcountry, the namesof the American legislators of'76 will be placed by posterity at the side o/ 
thoseofTheseus,ofLycurgus, of KoniuIus.ofNuma, oftbe three Williams of Nassau, and of all tho.se whose memory has been, and forever 
will be, dear to virtuous men and good citizens." 

i>iy^''jVP*'''"^''''°°*^* ^**°'"'''"''*''P™'*' ™<^*'''"8er arrived from Virginia, summoning Mr. Lee to a home of deep affliction. He left 
Philadelphia the following morning, and before the formation of the Committee, which circumstance fully explains the reason for his not 
occupying the position assigned to Mr. Jefferson . 



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Fac-Simile of tlie Original Document in the liand -writing of Thomas Jefferson, 

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE SIGMRS. 



— ^g' ^^a eee eOOO OCt it i' 




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MATTHEW THORNTON was bom in Ireland in 1714, from 
whence his parents emigrated while in his infancy , audsettled 
in Worcester, Massachusetts. He received a liberal education , and 
at a comparatively early age took rank among the first physicians 
of his State. I'ossessing the full confidence and patronage of the 
home government, he nevertheless voluntarily surrendered them 
by his opposition to the existing abuses. His popularity with the 
people was unbounded, and on the abdication of Governor Went- 
worlh, lie was elected his successor. Upon the organization ofthe 
Provincial Congress he was chosen Speaker of the ilouse, and in 
the same year was appointed a delegate to the Continental Con- 
gress. Dr. Thornton resigned public life in 17N2.and retired to his 
farm, in Exeter, where he was blessed with many years, and lived 
to see his country in the heighth of prosperity. Up to his eighty- 
second year he was never ill a day, but at this time was attacked 
with whooping-cough, from which he never fully recovered. Dr. 
'I'hornton died in 1SU3, at the age of eighty nine years. 



SAMUEL ADAMS (next to Hancock the most obnoxious 
'' rebel" of the revolution) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 
September 22, 1722. He descended from l*ilgrim stock, and in 
early life enjoyed the advantages of wealth and influence. In 1763 
he began to boldly assert the rights of the colonies, and was among 
the firat who advocated resistance to the oppressions of the crown. 
In lTe5 Mr. "Adams was chosen a representative for Boston in the 
General Assembly , and during the remainder of his life — near forty 
years— occupied positions of high honor and responsibility. He 
WHS among those who secretly matured the plan of proposing a 
General Congress ; was one of the five delegates appointed to that 
body in 1774, and continued a member of Congress until 1781- 
Soon after retiring from Congress, he was chosen to the first po- 
sitions in his native State, and up to the close of his life was 
annually re-elected. Mr. Adams died October 3, 1803, in the 
eighty-secondyear of hisage. There are many incidents in the 
history of this self-sacrificing and inflexible patriot of rare interest. 



ROBERT TREAT PAINE.— This distinguished patriot was 
born ill Bo.stoii, Massachusetts, in 1731. He was one of the 
most successful students of Harvard College, "Which he entered at 
tliL' age of fourteen years. During his early life he visited England, 
and upon his return entered the ministry, which, however, was 
soon relinquished for the legal protfession, and of which he soon 
became a distinguished member. Prominent and uncompromising 
among those who denounced the abuses of the home government, 
ho early buckled on the armor of Revoluttoo, and in 17C8 boldly 
assumed its responsibilities. From being elected a member of the 
Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774, he continued unin- 
terruptedly in the public service. As a legislator andjurist he was 
equally successful, and faithfully discharged the trust and confi- 
dence reposed in him by his countrymen up to the close ot his 
eventful life, which occurred in May. 1814, at the ripe age of eighty- 
four years. Mr. Paine retired from the Bench of the Supreme 
Court of his native State about ten yf nrs previous to his death. 




ELBRIDGE GERRY was bom in Marblehead, Massachusetts, 
on the 17th July, 1744. The son of an opulent merchant, he 
enjoyed all the advantages of early culture, and was a distinguished 
graduate of Harvard College in 1762. Soon after this he entered 
upon mercantile life, and not only amassed a fortune, but by his 
unbending integrity of character secured the highest regard and 
confidence of his fellow citizens. Active in his opposition to the 
increasing injustice of Great Britain, he was elected a member of 
the first Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, and was a member 
of the same attke tinie of the battle of Bunker Hill, —the night 
preceding which, he and (^tneral Warren slept in the same bed. In 
1771- Mr. Gerry w:i>< i-K-rtrd u delegate to the Continental Congress, 
and contimu'd in iil;n<s oihi^li trust and honor through life. His 
death occurred very uiH'x|irctcflly, November '23d, 1814, at which 
time he was discharpinj; liis duties as Vice-President of the United 
States. He was entombed in llic Congressional Cemetery at Wash- 
ington , and a monument erected to his memory by Congress. 



STEPHEN HOPKINS was born at Scituate, Rhode Island, 
March 7,1707. At the age of twenty-four yeai-s he left the 
plough, removed to Providence, and engaged in mereantile busi- 
ness. The year following he was elected a representative in the 
General Assembly, of which body he confinued a member ibr 
nearly twenty years, and most of the time, without a competitor, 
as Speaker. May tue not, vnth propriti}/, and siiicerity, prayff/r similar 
hlessings in our State ajid Nalumal Ijegislaiitm ? In 1751 was chosen 
Chief Justice of the Colony. At an early day lie boldly opposed 
the abuses of the home government, in which , we need not say, he 
was mora firm than his singular appearing signature to the Declar- 
ation of IndependL-nce might indicate, and which was attributable 
to a pliysieal alUiction. Few men of his time enjoyed a greater 
degree of public confidence, and the stern integrity manifested in 
every discharge of duty, needs no proof that tlie honors were me^i 
worthily bestowed. Mr. Hopkins died July 19, 1785, in the seventy 
eighth year of his age. 



WILLIAM ELLERY was bom at Newport, Rhode Island, 
December 22d, 1727. He enjoyed unusual ailvantagos in 
early life, and at the age of twenty years received the highest hon- 
ors of Harvard College. For nearly a quarter of a century he 
practiced law with distinguished success, and from which he ac- 
quired a fortune. He was uncompromising in asst-rting and main- 
taining all thejust rights of the colonies, and from the commence 
ment to the close of the revolutionary struggle, discharged with 
wisdom and fidelity the responsible trusts delegated to him. As n 
reward for these services, it was his fortune to witness a nation in 
the full enjoyment of blessings for wliich he had pledged " life and 
fortune." Mr. Ellery may be styled the " dussic" signer of tin- 
Declaration of Independence. On the morning of his death, he 
perused TuUy's Offices, and died with Oicct-o in his hand — which 
event occurred, while sitting in his chair, February 15, 1820, in the 
seventy-third year of his age. Mr. EUery was the first Collector 
ol Newport, in which office he continued about forty years. 




ROGER SHERMAN wasbominNewton, Massachusetts, April 
19, 1721. On the death of his father, and when but nineteen 
years of age, the support of a large family devolved upon him, all 
of which attendant duties were faithfull^ discharged. He served 
a regular apprenticeship, as shoemaker, in his native town ; after 
acquiring which, traveled on foot, with ** kit and fortune '' in his 
hand, to New Milford, Connecticut, where he for a time worked 
industriously at his trade as a journeyman. Mr. Sherman was one 
of the remarkalle men of the Revolution. With scarcely an oppor 
tunity or advantage in early life for self-culture, he was called from 
hia humble position not only to represent his State, but occupied a 
prominent position in Congress among the patriots of the Revolu 
tion. He was one of the Committee appointed to draft the Declar- 
ation of Independence, a member of the Convention which framed 
the Constitution of the United States, afterwards became a distin 
guished jurist, and at the time of his death, July 23d, 1793, was a 
member of the United States Senate. 



Xic:ac}acx£: 



!)■ ; 



SAMUEL HUNTINGTON was born at Windham, Connecticut, 
July 2d, 1732. His father was a moderate farmer of his day, 
and we find nothing to mention of especial note until 1704, at which 
time the son occupied an honorable position in the legal profession 
at Norwich, and from which we may properly date his public life; 
afterwards so distinguished — upon the bench, in Congress, and as 
Governor of Connecticut. His devoted patriotism and unbending 
integrity, secured the unqualified confidence of Congress, of which 
body he was chosen President in 1779, then the highest olfice in the 
nation. In oonecquence of impairod health he was obliged to re 
sign this position, much to the regret, and with the reluctant con 
sent of Congress. Mr. Huntington succeeded John Jay as Minis- 
ter Plenipotentiary to Spain, and in negotiating a treaty of amity 
and commerce with that nation. In 17SG he was elected Governor 
of Connecticut, and continued in the same olfice until the time of 
his death, which event occurred on the 5th of January, 1796, in 
the -ixty fourth year of his age. 




5i^ 



(I '' 






XXrlLLIAM WILLIAMS was horn at Lebanon, Connecticut, 
Y > April 18, 1731. At the age of twenty years he was a distin- 
guished graduate of Harvard College, and commenced the study of 
theology with his father, who, formore than half of a century, was 
pastor of a Congregational Society in Lebanon. He soon after 
abandoned theology, and entered upon mercantile life, in his native 
town, from which he amassed a fortune. Attheage of twenty-five, 
Mr. Williams was chosen amember of the Connecticut Assembly, 
and was continued a member of that body forty-Jive years. He was 
elected a delegate to the General Congress in 1775, and was an 
ardent supporter of the Declaration of Independence. During the 
darkest and moat trying period of the great struggle, and when 
the currency of the countryhadbecome almost valueless, he atone 
time exchanged a large sum in specie for the same amount of Con- 
tinental money, with which to obtain supplies for the army. In 
1804 Mr. Williams retired from public life, from the inlirmities 
of age. He died August 2, 1811, at the age eighty-one years. 



J LIVER WOLCOTT was bom at Windsor, Connecticut, No- 
vember Sfi, 1726. He entered Yale College at the age of seven- 
teen years, graduated with the usual honors in 1747, and in the 
same year entered upon the study of medicine with a distinguished 
uncle. Soon after completing his medical course, he abandoned 
the same for public life, — which afterwards became so popular-— 
in the field, uponthe bench, anil as a legislator. Few men enjoyed 
a gruater degree of confidence from the people, and during the re- 
mainder of his life he uninturruptedly occupied the most honor- 
able positions within their gift. First among the opponents to 
unjust Briti.'*hrule,lie early advocated an independent government, 
and lived to witness his countrymen in the full enjoyment of that 
for which he had pledged his honor, his fortune, and his life. His 
death occurred December 1, 3797, and while serving as Governor of 
tiis native State. The father of Mr. Wolcott was alpo a prominent 
iiiun of his day — having occupied the position of Major General, 
'I udge, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor of Connecticut. 



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BIOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE SIGMR8. 



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WILLIAM FLOVl) ^v;\^ h'.~r'i ;it Sriaiikrt . T,ong Island, De- 
cember 17,17;>t. llis fiither was une of the most wealthy 
fiirraera in the country, in whioh calling the sou coutmued up to 
1774, when he was chosen a delegate to the first Continental Con- 
gress, and from which tune forward he occupied a prominent po- 
sition iu public life . Few men euflered greater pecuniary loss from 
the Kcvolution^ and for nearly seven years his estate was in pos- 
session of IGnglish troops, and his family living in exile. General 
Floyd was several times re-elected to Congress, and was among the 
most influential of itij members. In 1778 he consented for the last 
time to a seat in Congress, and upon the expiration of the term for 
wiiich he was tlien chosen, retired from active public life. His 
death occurred August 4, 1821, at the advanced age of eighty-f 
years. \Ve can hardly pass the name of 'WilHam Floyd with this 
simple reference to the services wliich he rendered during the War, 
and which entitled him to a most prominent place among the pare 
patriots who counted no sacrilice they could make for their country. 



PHILIP LIVINGSTON was born at Albany, N. T., January 
15, 1716. He entered Yale College at an early age, and gradu- 
ated with distinguished honors in 17^7. Immediately after leaving 
College, he located permanently in New Yorii, and soon became 
one of its most successful commercial merchants. Uis public life 
may be dated from 1754. when he was chosen Alderman of the 
" East Ward," at which time Wall-street was the north bounds of 
the ** town," and its entire population only abouteleven thousand. 
Mr. Livingston was a member of the first Continental Congreso, 
one of the Committeeappointedtoprepare an address to the mother 
country, and among the most firm and influential patriotji of the 
revolution. For some time previous, and at the time of leaving 
home to take his seat in the Congress of 1778, he had been afflicted 
with disease of a most fatal character, and he accordingly took a 
final leave of his family. His presentiment soon became a reality, 
by his sudden death, on the twelfth of June following, in the 
uxty -second year of his age. 



4^(IP! T7RANCIS LEWIS was born iu LandafT, Wales, in the year 
M^ofj Jj ITia. After the completion of his education at Westminster, 
ir> he served an apprenticeship with a London merchant, and upon 
attaining his majority emigrated to this country, and entered at 
once upon commercial life, which was very successful. His public 
life dates from a seat in the Continental Congress , from which time 
forward he was regarded as an able legislator, and distinguished 
himself with equal credit in the field. During the possession of 
Long Island by the British, he not only suffered great pecuniary 
loss from the destruction of his property, but was made to feel their 
brutality more keenly in consequence of the close confinement for 
months of a beloved wife, during which time she was denied the 
ordinary comforts of life, and subjected to treatment which ruined 
her constitution and resulted in her premature death. Mr. Lewis 
retired from public life in 1778, and enjoyed the esteem and grati- 
tude of his countrymen up to Its close, which occurred December 
30th, 1803, in the ninetieth year of his age. 




el 



LEWIS MORRIS was bom at Horrieania, New York, iu the 
year 1726. He entered Yale College at the age of sixteen, and 
four years after graduated with the usual honors. He early es- 
poused the rights of the colonies — boldly denounced the abuses of 
the home government— and was foremost among the noble band 
who pledged fortune and life in the great struggle. Studying the 
character of Mr. Morris, we find it difficult to confine ourselves to 
the limits of our outline sketch, and pass his name with this brief 
allusion to the pure and disinterested patriotism by which he was 
ever governed. He voluntarily retired from Congress in 1777, but 
continued in the public service of his native state until the restora- 
tion of peace, when he retired to the quiet and happiness of agri- 
culture, and which he continued to enjoy up to the close ofnis 
life. He died in January 1798, aged seventy-two years. Mr. Morris 
was succeeded in Congress by his brother, Governeur Morris, and 
upon the election of the latter, received a vote of thanks for his 
" long and faithful services rendered to the Colony of New York." 

EICIIARD STOCKTON was born at Princeton, New Jersey, 
October 1 , 1730. He enjoyed all tlie advantages which wealth 
could secure, in his early life and education, and at the age of 
;ighteen years, upon leaving Princeton College with its usual lion- 
, entered upon the study of law — to the practice of which ho 
^ admitted in 1764 — and in which he rapidly rose to di.^tinction 
and eminence. He enjoyed especial honors from the King, and 
possessing ample fortune, his patriotism and unfaltering devotion 
to the Revolutionary cause are the more to be venerated. While 
in Congress, Mr. Stockton was among its most influential mem- 
bers, and during the great struggle experienced reverses andsuf- 
feringsof the most trying character. He was for atime imprisoned 
in the common jail at Amboy, and afterwards removed to the old 
Provost prison in the city of New York , then situated in the Park, 
where the present Hall of Records now stands , and during his con- 
finement subjected to the mo.^^t cruel treatment. Mr. Stockton died 
February 28, 1781, in the tifty-tirst year of his age. 



B 




JOHN WITHERSPOON was born at Yester, Scot!: 
ary 5, 1722. He was a lineal descendant of the great reformer. 
John Knox. At the age of fourteen years, he entered the Univer- 
sity of Edinburgh. After pursuing a regular theological course of 
study — graduated at the age of twenty-two years, a licensed prea- 
cher, and soon became a popular divine in his native country. Af- 
ter repeated solicitations he finally accepted the Presidency of 
New Jer.-i-y Colk'g»% aud on the 18th day of August, 1768, entered 
upon tlie duties of that position. Deeply sympathizing in the re- 
volutionary movement, he for a few years retired from ministerial 
duties, during which time distinguished himself as a patriot and 
statesman. Dr. Witherspoon continued in political life until 1783, 
when he again returned to his sacred calling, and in which he con- 
tinued up to the day of his death, nothwithstanding he was afflict- 
ed with total blindness during the last two years of his ministra- 
tion. Dr. Witherspoon died on the 10th day of November, 1794, 
■ I the seventy-third year of his age. 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON was bom in Philadelphia, ra.,ii 
year 1737. His parents were both members of the most aris- 
tocratic families in England, his mother, a daughter nf the Bishop 
of Worcester, and the family of his father equally distinguished. 
We pass over his early life, in which he enjoyed every advantage 
of cultivation, education and refinement. He was in due course of 
time admitted a legal practitioner, and soon acquired success in his 
profession. Like many other true patriots of his day, he volun- 
tarily surrendered the enjoyment of favors and position from the 
home government, and in its stead placed his all in jeopardy for 
the public good. He was elected to the General Congress in 1776, 
and for a number of years following was among its most active and 
useful business members. Mr. Hopkinson may be ranked as the 
poet and wit of his time. In State as well as in national aff'aire he 
occupied positions of the highest responsibility up to the day of his 
deathj which event occurred suddenly in May. 1791. at the com- 
parative early age of fifty-tliree yeara 



JOHN HART was born in New Jersey. In common with all 
other biographers we are unable to state the year with accura- 
cy. He was among the most thrifty and intelligent farmers of his 
State, but from the year 1765 boldly denounced the abuses of the 
home government, andfrom this time forward devoted his efforts 
and possessions to the service of his country. Mr. Hart was a 
member of the first Continental Congress, and continued amo 
the most unflinching and influential patriots of the Revolution 
to the day of his death, which occui-red in 1780, and before J 
termination of the glo^ous struggle. Brief as are our "sketchc, 
we cannot do leea than SsK for the name of John Hakt. a promi- 
nent place among the pure and most devoted patriots of the Revo- 
lution. No name is appended to the Declaration of Independence 
which deserves more our veneration. The death of Mr. Hart 
occurred at the gloomiest period of the War, but he never for a 
moment doubted the final issue — and his last prayer was for the 
Divine blessing and protection to his country. 



;|^ A BRAHAM CLARK was born at EUzabethtown, New Jersey, 
l) J\. February 15, 1726. He was the only child of a frugal farmer, 
lA but in consequence of a feeble constitution left the plough early in 
'[] life, and turned his attention to surveying and the study of law. 
■A His popularity with the people soon secured him a prominent po- 
Ij sition, and although enjoying the official patronage of the home 
H government, he was among the first to denounce its abuses. Mr. 
[( 1 Clark was elected in 1776 to the Continental Congress, and con- 
tinued in the public service up to the time of his sudden death, from 
coupdes'ilitl which occurred in June 1794. He cheerfully suffered 
much pecuniary loss from the Revolution: his family were driven 
from their home, and two of his sons experienced all the horrors 
of the Jersey prison-ship. With the premature death of Mr. Clark, 
although at a comparatively advanced age, let us here allude to 
the fact: that in length of days, and physical as well as mental 
development, no such body of men ever assembled as those who 
composed the Continental Congress. 




ROBERT MORRIS ^ 
ary, IT 



1 in Lancashire, England, in Janu- 

. , He received every advantage of wealthinhisearly 

culture' and education, and upon attaining his majority, entered 
upon mercantile life , at Philadelphia. The great question of Amer- 
icau freedom at this time engrossed the public attention, and for its 
accomplishment Mr. Morris consecrated his possessions. He was 
the fiTuvncicr of the Revolution — enjoyed the especial confidence of 
Wa.shington — and his name the firet that was mentioned upon the 
formation of his cabinet. Upon declining the position, and in a 
private interview, General Hamilton was decided upon as Secretary 
of the Treasury. Mr. Morris was a prominent member of the 
Convention which framed the Constitution of the United States, 
and on its adoption was chosen a Senator in Congress. At the 
end of the term he d.eclined a re-election, and with it closed his 
distinguished public life. Mr. Morris married a sister of Bishop 
White, the father of the American Church. His death occurred 
May 8, 1806, in the seventy-third year of his age. 



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5 3 



BENJAMIN RUSH was born in Berberry. Pennsylvania, De- 
cumber '^4th, 1745. lie entered rriucetou College in 1759, and 
w!iuo sixteen years old, took bis degree. After studying medicine 
with Dr. Kedman, of Ptiiladelphia, he visited Europe, attending 
there tlie best hospitals and medical institutions, and returned 
home iu 1703, bearing with him a diploma conferred on him at 
Edinburgh, and the title " Doctor of Medicine. " He commenced 
practice m Philadelphia with the greatest success, and rapidly 
gained a world-wide reputation for medical skill. Dr. Bush was 
elected to Congress in 1776, and signed the Declaration. In 1793 
the yellow fever began its fatal work in Philadelphia. Dr. Rush 
remained at his post and acted the part of a good Samaritan, 
displaying a self-sacrificing devotion to the welfare of the commu- 
nity. " 1 will remain, if I remain alone," was his motto, and nobly 
did he act upon it. On the lyth of April, 1813, he paid the debt of 
nature, expiring in the midst of friends and the lameutationB of a 
whole nation, at the age of sixty-seven years. 



JOHN MORTON, of Swedish descent, was born near Fhiladel- 
phiain 17'^-i. He received a good education, and at an early 
age showed a proficiency in study, quite remarkable. In 1764 he 
eutered public life, being chosen a Justice of the Peace, am 
of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania and a Speaker of the 
House. He was a delegate in 1765 to the " Stamp Act Congress," 
and in 1766 High Sherill" of the county where he resided. In 1774- 
1776 he was a member of the General Congress, in which latter 
year he signed the l»eclaration- He exhibited profound talents i 
every office he sustained, and a wonderful activity in labor. Mi 
Morton died in April, 1777,in the fifty-fourth year of his age, nea 
the eve of our great national deliverance. While in Congress the 
delegation then present from Pennsylvania was equally divided 
in opinion upon the question of Independence, and Mr. Morton 
was called upon to give the casting vote that was to secure the 
unanimous adoption of the Declaration by the Colonies. He met 
the question with firmness, and by his vote made the great issue. 



GEORGE CLTMER was born in Philadelphia in 1739. He en- 
tered early on a commercial life, and continued in the same 
till 1782. In 1765 he was appointed by Congress one of the conti- 
nental treasurers, and in 1776 elected to the General Congress, and 
signed the Declaration. In 1782 he united with Robert Mor- 
ris in establishing a bank in Philadelphia, and became one of ita 
directors. He also, iu company with Edward Rutledge, visited 
the South to procure funds lor government use, and on his return 
removed hia family to Princeton, New j^ey. He was a mem- 
ber of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and lacilitated the adoption 
of many wise measures, one of which, the penitentiary system, en- 
titles him to lasting remembrance. Mr. Clymer was a member of 
the Convention for framing a Federal Constitution, and was ap- 
pointed Supervisor of the revenue for the State of Pennsylvania. 
In 1796 he aided in negotiating a treaty with the Indians in Geor- 
gia, which was his la^-'t public act. His death occurred on the ^-Ith 
of January, 1813, aged seTeuty-four years. 

^-" '' JAMES SMITH was born in Ireland in 1720, emigrating to this 
f) country wlien but a child. His early education was excellent, 
and his intellect mature in mere boyhood. He chose the law fc 
a profession, andremoved westward in Pennsylvania, settling! 
a wilderness, where he found no rivals in his profession and few 
dealers in his trade. He finally became a resident of York and 
married a Miss Amos of Newcastle, Delaware. In the beginning 
of our national struggle, Mr. Smith cordially acted with the Patri- 
ots and warmly espoused their cause. He was chosen a delegate 
to the Pennsylvania Convention, which met in 1775 and acted on 
eeveral important committees. Afterwards he became a member 
of the General Congress and signed the Declaration. In 1776 Mr 
Smith declined a re-election to Congress, but finally obeyed the 
voice of duty, and resumed his seat. The next year he vacated it, 
to resume his professional business and to serve a term in the Penn- 
sylvania Legislature. He died on the 11th day of July, 1806. at 
the patriarchal age of ninety years. 



G1 EORGE TATLOR was born in Ireland in 1716 and came to 
r this country, when twenty years of age. After a short ap- 
Erenticeship in an iron manufactory at Durham, Pennsylvania, 
e erected out of funds brought him in a matrimonial alliance, 
large iron works at Lehigh, ijorthumberland Co. , Pa. Acquiring 
an immense popularity by his business talent and gentlemanly 
qualities, he was elected to the provincial General Assembly in 
1764, where he served for five consecutive yeai-s. In 1775 he was 
Bent to the Provincial Congress, and was appointed on the Commit- 
tee to draw up instructions for the delegates to the General Con- 
gress which convened in May of the same year. Tlieae instructions 
prohibited the Delegates of Pennsylvania from favoring a separa- 
tion from the mother country ; but the current of public opinion 
was so strongly in favor of independence, that in J une following, 
the prohibition was removed , and the delegates leftuntrammeled in 
their future action. After serving one year in Congress he retired 
from public life. His death occurred February 23, 1781. 



m 



JAMES WILSON was born in Scotland and emigrated to this 
country in 17Bii. His first business was that of ateacherin I'hi- 
ladelpUia, and subsequently the legal profession became his choice . 
In 177S he was chosen a member of the General Congress, and 
retained the office until 1777. As Colonel of a regiment in his 
State in 1774, he added much to the strength of the militia and 
showed considerable skill in military tactics. In 1778 he formed a 
treaty with the Indians of Pennsylvania. In 1780 he was appoint- 
ed Advocate-General of the French nation in the United States, 
and re-appointed in 1781. In 1782 he was chosen again a member 
of Congress and counselor in the difficulty between Pennsylvania 
and Connecticut, concerning the Wyoming domain. In 1786 he 
again took his place in Congress, and formed one of the Conven- 
tion ft)r drafting aTcderal Constitution, also of the Peimsylvania 
Convention of 1788. The President appointed Mr. Wilson in 1789 
one of the Judges of the Supreme Court. He died the twenty- 
eighth dayofAugost, 1798, aged fifty. six years. 



GEORGE ROSS was born in Newca,slle, Delaware, in 1730. Af- 
ter receiving a liberal education, he entered upon the prac- 
tice of law, at the age of twenty one, and established himself at 
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Mr. Boss was elected a member of the 
Pennsylvania Assembly of 1768 and re-elected for successive years. 
He was chosen to the General Congress in 1774-1777 inclusive, and 
signed the Declaration on the second of August, 1776. He was 
prominent in his mediation with the Indian tribes, and universally 
esteemed as a public philanthropist. In 1799 Mr. Ross was ap- 
pointed a judge of the Court of Admiralty for Pennsylvania, in 
which office he continued to the close of his life. Mr. Ross was 
among the first who advocated resistance to the unjust acts of the 
home government, and although extremely moderate inexpressing 
his opinionSj was at the same time among the most decided and 
uncompromising in his demands for a redress of the grievances. 
He enjoyed the unmeasured respect and confidence of the people 
to the time of his death, whieh event occurred in July, 1780. 



CjESAEROnNEY was born at Dover, PeTaware, in 1730. His 
parents were of English descent and of high position. On the 
death of his father, Mr. Rodney inherited tlie paternal estate and 
settled upon it. He was a member of the " Stamp Act Congress" 
of 1765, of the Provincial Assembly in 1769, andspeaker of the lat- 
ter until 1774. He took his seat in the General Congress of 1774, 
and acted on the committee for drawing up a Declaration of Rights. 
In 1776 he was re-elected to Congress and appointed Brigadier- 
General of his province. In 1777 he was appointed a Judge of the 
Supreme Court, -whioh honor he <]eclin«Mi. lie vftis very active aa 
a military general, and successful in his encounters with the ene- 
my, whom he conquered at various points. No Colony was more 
faithful and devoted to the Revolutionary cause than Delaware, 
and no member of the ever memorable Congress which adopted 
the Declaration of Independence was more zealous and unfaltering 
in ltd maintenance than Caesar Rodney. He suffered many years 
from a disease of the most fatal character, which terminated in 1783. 



ococ 



r 



GEORGE READ was born in Maryland in 1734 of Irish paren- 
tage. He enjoyed every advantage of wealth and influence, 
and after completing his education, at the age of seventeen, 
began the study of law with a barrister in Philadelphia, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1753; settling in 1754 at Newcastle, De- 
laware, where he commenced practice. At the age oftwenty- 
nine Mr. Read was appointed Attorney General for the "lower 
counties on the Delaware," of Kent, Sussex and Newcastle. In 
1774 he was elected to the Continental Congress, and in 1776 amem- 
berof the General Assembly of Delaware, to which office he was 
re-elected for several successive years. In 1774 he was a member 
of the General Congress, as also in 1V75 and 1776. He signed and 
earnestly maintained the Declaration of Independence and was 
President of the Delaware Convention for forming a State Consti- 
tution. Mr- Read was cho.^en Chief Justice of his native State in 
1793 — which station he continued to occupy up to the autumn of 
1798, when a sudden illness closed his useful life. 






i* 



|1 

Ml 



THOMAS McKEAN was bom in New London, Pennsylvania, 
in 1734. He was associated with George Read at a school of 
theRev. Dr. Allison's, andlikebim adopted the law asaprofes- 
sion. At twenty -one he was admitted to the bar, and in 1756 ap- 
pointed a Deputy Attorney General of his province. In 1757 
was admitted to practice iu the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 
and was Clerk of the House of Assembly of Delaware. His more 
patriotic career includes his action in the Stamp Act Congress of 
1765, the General Congress of 1774-1783, and his signing the Decla- 
ration of 1776. He waselectedChief Justice of Pennsylvania tor 
twenty successive years, and Governor ot the .State for three terms 
or nine years. His last public act was to preside at a meeting of 
the citizens of Philadelphia at the time the city was threatened 
with an attack by the British. While in Congress, and upon 
the resignation of Oliver Wolcott, Mr. McKean was chosen Presi- 
dent, and upon resigning the position, received the thanks of that 
body. He died June 24th, 1817, aged eighty-four years. 






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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE SIGMR8. 



■ 3 eec eC0CC et«*-™= 






SAMUEL CHASE was born in Somerset county, Maryland, 
April 17, 1741. At eighteen years of age he commenced the 
Btudy of law at Annapolis; at twenty was admitted to practice be- 
fore the Mayor's Court, and at twenty-two became a member ol 
the bar. His legal career was a most successful one and only sur- 
passed by his labors in the cause of Freedom. At the early age of 
twenty years Mr. Chase was chosen a member of the Provincial 
Assembly, and in 1774 was elected as a delegate to the Continen- 
tal Congress besides acting on the " Committee of Correspondence' 
in his colony. In 1776 Mr. Chase was appointed one of a commit- 
tee with Franklin and Carroll to go on a mission to Canada for the 
purpose of effecting a concurrence of that province with the action 
ofotber English colonies. He continued in Congress until 1778, 
meanwhile signing the Declaration of Independence. In 1796 Mr. 
Cha,se was chosen by Washington a judge of the Supreme Court 
ofthe United States, which office he held for flfteen years. Ihis 
truly great and good man died June 19, 1811. 



/ 



'lie 

I 



THOMAS STONE was born at the Pointoin Manor, Maryland, 
in 1743. He had a good classical education, aud after thestudy 
of law for a few years, entered upon its practice in 1764 at Anna- 
polis. His attention was early directed to the American cause, 
and in obedience to the behests of duty, he consented to serve in 
the General Congress of 1774 and 1776. He not only signed the 
Declaration, but aided in framing the Articles of Confederation 
(adopted in 1777), and in advocating their justice. Mr. Stone was 
an influential member of Congress, (and once its President,) until 
1T85, when he retired to his home. Port Tobacco, where he died, 
aged forty-five years, on the fifth of October, 1787. The people of 
Maryland at first manifested more reluctance in a severance from 
the mother country than either ofthe other Colonics, and as a con- 
sequence, Mr. Stone and his colleagues were debarred from acting 
favorably upon the measure by the instructions of the Colonial 
Convention. These obstacles, however, were removed in June, 
1776, and the Declaration at once received hismost cordial support. 



•TXriLLIAM PACA was born at Wye Ilall, Maryland, in 1740. 
V Y He enjoyed every advantage, and entered I'hiladelphia Col- 
lege, where he graduated with high honor. He was admitted to 
the bar in 1760, and in 1761 chosen a member of the Provincial As- 
sembly. By his patriotic conduct iu the revolutionary period, he 
gained a wide popularity with the people who elected him to 
the Continental Congress ot 1774-1778, advanced him to a Chief 
Justiceship of the U. S. Supreme Court in 1778, and to the Chief 
Judiciary in Maryland. These duties he ably discharged, wlien 
in 1782 he was appointed Governor of Maryland. After a servico 
of one yearin thiscapacity, he retired to private life, anddicdin 
1799, aged sixty years. While in Congress Mr. Faca was also pre- 
vented from voting for the Declaration of Independence until after 
the removal of Colouial instructions in June, 177G, at which time 
he boldly advocated its adoption, and pledged Maryland for its 
maintenance. It is worthy of note that on the very day he gave 
his vote of approval, he was again unanimously re-elected. 



CHARLES CAKKOLL, OF CARROLLTON, one ofthe most 
prominent revolutionary patriots , was oflrish descent and 
born September 20th, 1737. When eight years old, he entered the 
Jesuit College of St. Omer, where he remained until 1761. Thence 
he was sent to Rheims, where he spent a year, and to the College 
of Louis le Grand, from which he graduated in 1764. He began 
the study of law at liourges and pursued this branch of study at 
Paris and London. Alter eight years residence in London he 
returned to Maryland, immediately espousing, on his arrival, the 
cause ofthe colonies. Mr. Carroll was among the most influential 
Members of Congress, and unhesitatingly consecrated his life and 
his immense fortune to the cause of Independence. It was his 
happiness to see his country rank among the first nations of the 
earth. BIr. Carroll passed the last thirty years of his life in most 
happy retirement, and on the 14th (Jay of November, 1832, after 
surviving several years all the others of the immortal band who 
signed the Declaration of Independence, calmly passed from earth. 



G1 EORGE WYTHE was bom in Elkabeth County, Virginia, 
I" in 1726. After enjoying good educational privileges, he en- 
tered upon the practice of law in 1757, attaining a high reputation 
for legal ability. Mr. Wythe was a member for some time of the 
House of Burgesses in Virginia, and cooperated in that Assembly 
with Patrick Henry and others in their '* godlike" action in behalf 
of freedom. In 1775 he was elected to the General Congress, in 
1786 to the National Convention for framing a Constitution, and 
subsequently served two terms in the United States Senate. Mr. 
Wythe was an example of strict integrity and undoubted patri- 
otism. The trusts imposed upon him by the people, well Indicated 
their regard for him. After a long life of usefulness, Mr. Wythe 
deceased June, the 8th, 1806, aged eighty -one years. 'The event 
was received by the whole nation with the most profound sorrow, 
and which was heightened from the consideration that it resulted 
from poison, at ftie hands of a near relative, and who was after- 
wai-ds tried for the act, but not convicted. . 



EICHARD HENRY LEE was born in Westmoreland County, 
Virginia, January 20th, 1732. His education was begun in 
England, at a school in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and completed in 
the " Old liominion." During his youth and early life he devoted 
himself to literary pursuits and was distinguished for his scholarly 
attainments. He organized the first association in the Colonies 
opposed to the Crown, was one ofthe first " Committee of Corres- 
pondence' • and a chiel advocate of the cause of Independence. Mr. 
Lee was a delegate to the Congress of 1776, and tiest introduced 
a resolution for a separation from the mother country. As a 
member of Congress, he was most actively employed: being placed 
on the most important committees and appointed to various offices. 
On his retirement from his seat in Congress, in 1784, the thanks of 
the House were publicly offered him " for the faithful services he 
had rendered his country." He was appointed first U. S. Senator 
of Virginia under the new Constitution,— with which he closed his 
distinguished public life. His death occurred June 19, 1794. 



%i 



BENJAMIN HARRISON was bom in Berkley, Virginia, but 
the day of his birth is not certainly known. His ancestors 
were among the first colonial settlers, emigrating to this country 
from England in 1640. Mr. Harrison took a partial C9urse of stu- 
dy in William aud Mary College, and began his poUtical career as 
a member ofthe House of Burgesses in 1764. He was also elected 
speaker of the Assembly for many years. The royal Governor of 
the province, perceiving in Mr. Harrison the qualities of a states- 
man end the promise of hi^h attainments in life, offered him at 
one time a seat in his executive council, which was peremptorily 
declined. Mr. Harrison was one of the delegates from Virginia to 
the Continental Congress of 1774 and signed the Declaration on the 
second of August, 1776. In 1782 he was elected Governor of Vir- 
ginia, and after serving thus for two terms, he retired to private 
life. Being called again to the speakership of the House of Bur- 
gesses, he resumed that office once more, and also the Governor's 
chair in 1791. lie died during the same week, in April 1791. 



THOMAS NELSON, Jn., was born iuYorktown, Virginia, Dec. 
20tli, 1738. In his fifteenth year he was sent to England to 
be educated, and after a brief course of study with a private tutor, 
entered Trinity College, Cambridge, having for his preceptor Dr. 
I'orteus, afterwards Bishop of London. In 1761 he returned to 
America, and in 1774 made his first appearance in public life as a 
membcroftheHouseof Burgesses of Virginia. The same year he 
served as a delegate to the first General Convention of his State \'iy"f\j 
and to the General Congress. In Congress he was a zealous advo- b\)!>^ 
cat« of American frtcdom, "by deeds, not bywords." He en- (l':H 
couraged the formation of corps of voluuteer militia in his own f:v( )) \ 
State, and himself commanded a regiment, while I*atrick Henry 
and Richard Lee hadsiinilar military posts. Mr. Nelson succeeded 
Jetfer.'iOnasGovernor of Virginia, and in the siege at Y'orktown 
headed a body of militia and bombarded even his own mansion, 
in which the British officers were then domiciled. On the fourth 
of January, 1789, he died, aged fifty years 



p. 

1 




FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT LEE, a younger brother of Richard 
Uenry Lee, was born iu Westmoreland county, Virginia, 
October 14th, 1734. He was educated under the direction of a 
Scottish clergyman, the Rev. Dr. Craig, aud attained a noble dis- 
tinction aa a scholar. Inspired with the same patriotic views as 
those of his brother, he was early called into publiclife, and in 
1705 was elected to tlie Virginia House of Burgesses. He con- 
tinued in the same until 177!Z, when he married aud removed to 
Richmond. He represented that county in the House until 1775, 
when he was elected to the Continental Congress. In 1779 he re- 
signed that office and returned to his home. His public career was 
not distinguished for anything great in speech or brilliant in ac- 
tion, but for its exemplary industry , sound judgment and unwaver- 
ing principle. The last days of Mr. Lee were spent not in the ac- 
cumulation of wealth , but in the liberal besto wment of his fortune 
upon the poor and every good enterprise. He died in April, 1797, 
aged sixty-three years. 



C^VRTER BRAXTON was bom at Newington, King and 
; i^uL-cn's county, Virginia, September 10th, 1736. He was edu- 
cated at William and Mary College, and after marrying a Miss 
Robinson, of Middlesex county, proceeded to England. In 1760 
he returned to America, and married a second wife, the daughter 
ofthe royal Receiver General of customs in Virginia. Despite his 
alliance with royalty by marriage, Mr. Braxton was one of the 
first to favor the cause of American freedom. He was present in 
the House of Burgesses in 1765, there heard the resolutions and 
speuch of Patrick Henry respecting the Stamp Act, and boldly 
voted in their support. He was also a member of the Virginia 
Convention, and in 1769 one ofthe " eighty -uine" who reeommuud- 
ed on the dissolution of that Assembly, a Convention ofthe people 
at Williamsburgh. This Convention met and elected delegates to 
the Continental Congress, of whom Mr. Braxton was one. He 
also succeeded Peyton Randolph in Congress in 1775, and signed 
the Declaration the next term. He died October loth, 1797. ^ 



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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. OF THE SIGMR8. 




T^eee eOOOoe t w ■ 



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WILLIAM IKXH'KK wa^ !)oni in Boston, Mass., June 17, 
1742. He gntduatod at Harvard College in 1760, and after- 
wards studied law with James Otis, in 1767 he removed to North 
Carolina and rose rapidly in his profession, standing at the head 
of thebarln that State. In the onset ol'his public career, he was 
branded aa a royalist, but soon gained a reputation Jbr disinterest- 
ed patriotism , and waB advanced to many public offices. In 1773 
he was elected to the rrovincial Assembly of North Carolina, and 
in 1774 to the Continental Congress. He was re-elected in 1775 and 
1776 ; in the latter year signing the Declaration. Like all the 
signers, Mr. Hooper became exceedingly obnoxious to the British, 
who sought every opportunity to molest him and his family. Af- 
ter the war had ceased, Mr. Hooper resumed the practice of hia 
profession, and withdrew from public life. Inl7S6 he was appoint- 
ed by Congress ajudgeofthe Federal Court established for the 
adjudication of the dispute between Massachusetts and New York. 
He died in October, 17yo, aged forty-eight years. 



JOSEPH HEWES, of Quaker parentage, was born in Kingston, 
N. J., in 1730. After studying at Princeton College, he enter- 
ed upon commercial life at Philadelphia. At the age of thirty 
years he removed to Edenton, N. C, and established himself in 
business, in which he amassed a large fortune. In I'.Gi he was 
elected to thfe Legislature of NorthCarolina and re-elected for suc- 
cessive terms. He was foremost in calling a Convention of the 
Colony for electing delegates to a tieneriil Congress, — was chosen 
a representative in that body — and although attended with great 

Secuniary loss, was a prominent member ou the Committee for 
rawing up the Decliiration of Rights. He was re-elected to 
Congress in 1775 and 1776 — voting for and signing the Declaration 
of Independence. In 1779 he again took his seat in Congress, 
remaining, however, but a few months. He died November lOth, 
1779, in the tiftieth year of his age. His death occurred at Wash- 
ington, and his funeral was largely attended by govermueutal 
dignitaries and other friends. 



JOHN PENN was born in Carolina county, Virginia, May 
17th, 1741. His early education was of a meagre sort, and not 
until he was eighteen years of age, did he enjoy the privilege of 
study. The celebrated Edmund Pendleton then otfered him the 
free use of his library, and assisted him in his etfort^i to acquire 
knowledge. So industrious was Penn in intellectual pursuits that 
he soon entered upon a course of legal study, and at the age of 
twenty-one was admitted to the bar. He possessed a strong na- 
tural genius and oratorial power, which, with close attention to 
the study oflaw, secured for him a prominent position in liis pro- 
fession. In 1774 he removed to North Caroliua, and in liia was 
elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, where ho remained 
three successive years, signed the Declaration, and was very in- 
fluential as a member. He was intrusted with the defence of his 
State in 17S0 against the inroads oi the British troops, performing 
the duty with great skill and credit. Mr Penn retired from public 
life in 1787. His death occurred in September, 1788. 



EDWARD RUTLEDGE was bom in Charleston, R C, i: 
vember, 1740. After receiving a good education, he commen- 
ced the study of law, and at the age of twenty entered aa a 
student at the Inner Temple, London, the scene of the forensic 
efforts of such legal giants as Manslield, Chatham and Camden. 
In 1772 he returned to Charleston , and was admitted to the bar the 
next year. At the age of twenty-live he was elected to the Con- 
tinental Congress, and re-elected in 1775 and 1776. He was asso- 
ciated with Richard Henry Lee and John Adams in preparing 
a prefatory preamble and recommendation of Congress to the 
Colonies to form permanent governments, and also affixed his sig- 
nature to the Declaration. In 1776 he served on a commission 
with Franklin and Adams to meet Lord Howe at Staten Island. 
Mr. Rutlege took up arms 1779, and the year following headed i 
corps of Artillery. In 1794 he was elected to the United States 
Senate, and in 1793 Governor of his native State. Mr. liulledge 
died on the twenty-third of January, 1SU9. 



rriHOMAS LYNCH, Jit., 



THOMAS HAYWARD was bom in St. Luke's parish. South 
Carolina, in 1746. He had every advantage in education, and 
on its completion entered upon a course of legal study. In 1766 
he visited England, there finishing his studies, and on his return 
practiced his profession. From the first he espoused the patriotic 
cause, and promoted its advance. In 1775 was elected to the 
General Congress, and while a member, signed the I'eclaration. 
In 1778 he left Congress and accepted the appointment of Judge 
of the criminal and civil courts of South Carolina. While Judge 
he held a military commission and was a chief actor in theskirmish 
at Beaufort in 17S0. In the skirmish he received a wound, which 
left its mark upon him through life. After the capture of Charles- 
ton, was taken prisoner by Sir Henry Clinton, and sent to St. 
Augustine, Florida, whore he remained a year. On his release and 
return home, he resumed his scat on the bench, and continued to 
discharge the duties of that office until 1798. His death occurred 
" 1 March 1809, aged sixty-three years. 



Tiivjdiivo iiiiNuii, Jit., was Dorn m I'nnce ucorge s parisn, 
South Carolina, August 5th, 1749. j At the age of thirteen, he 
was sent to England for an education,' pursuing his studies there 
at Eton School and Cambridge University. On leaving College, 
he began the study oflaw in the Inner Temple, London. In 177*2 
he returned to South Carolma, and entered upon his profession . In 
1773 he addressed an assembly of patriots convened at Charleston 
to consider the relations existing between the colonies and Britain. 
The people, won by his eloquence and impressed by his devoted 
patriotism, at once elected him to many civil otfices of trust, and 
in 1775 offered him a captain's commission in the first provincial 
regiment. The following year, succeeded his father in the General 
Congress, and signed the Declaration. ,, Owing to ill health, he re- 
mahied but a short time in Congress, and soon after sailed with 
his wife, in the hope of its recovery, for the West Indies. The 
vessel in which he sailed was supposed to have foundered at sea, 
and all on board perished. 



^?S::=^Qe^^^^3r3K 



ARTHUR MIDDLETON was bom at Middleton Place, South 
Carolina, in 1743. At twelve years of age he was sent to 
Hackney School in England, at fourteen to a school in West^ 
minster, and at eighteen to the University of Cambridge, where he 
graduated in 1765. After a short stay in England and two years 
travel on the continent, he returned home, but not to remain 
permanently. A year after he made a second tour of Europe, 
and returning, took his father's estate as a residence. But he was 
not long allowed the enjoyments of home and the pleasures which 
wealth confers, beiugsoon called into public life and to scenes of 
strife. In 1775 he wasappointed on the " Committee of Safety" in 
his State ; in 1776 on aCommittee to form agovernment for South 
Carolina, and the same year elected to the General Congress at 
Philadelphia. He continued in Congress until 1777, and was elec- 
ted Governor of South Carolina the next year, which honor he 
declined. To the close of 1787 he represented his county in tlie 
State Legislature, and died January 1, 1788, aged forty-five years. 



BUTTON GWINNETT was bom in England in 1732. He was 
engaged in business in Bristol until 1770, when he emigrated 
to South Carolina, and in 1772 to Georgia. He took an active in- 
terest in the American cause from the first, and subsequently be- 
came one of its warmest advocates. In 1775 he was elected to the 
Continental Congress, and re-elected the next year, when he signed 
the Declaration. In 1777 was chosen a member of the Convention 
fur forming a Federal Constitution, the chief outlines of which in- 
strument are attributed to Mr. Gwinuett, who afterward succeeded 
Mr. Bullock as President of the Convention. After the adjourn- 
ment of this body, Mr. Gwinnett aspired to the office of Brigadier 
General, but waa defeated. The resalt was an alienation between 
Col. Mcintosh, his rival, and himself. Mr. tiwinnett finally chal- 
lenged his rival to a single combat. The jjarties met, shots were 
exchanged, both were wounded, and Mr. Gwinnettmortally. Thus 
died the subject of this sketch at the age of forty-five, in the 
vigor of his manhood and usefulness. 



LYMAN HALL was born in Connecticut in 1721. He entered 
Yale College at the age of sixteen, and after graduating with 
the usual honors, commenced the study of medicine. Mr. Hall 
removed to South Carolina in 175"2 — immediately alter concluding 
his medical studies— but the same year took up his permanent res- 
idence in Georgia, and entered at once upon a successful practice. 
He was among the first in his Colony who boldly denounced the 
home government, and for a long time stood almost alone in arou- 
sing the people to Revolutionary resistance. A large portion of 
the people manifested opposition at first to adopting these extreme 
measures. The people of the parish ot St. John resolved to act 
independently, and in 1775, elected Dr. Hall a delegate to the Gen- 
eral Congress. Although not an accredited delegate of a Colony, 
he took his seat, with the unanimous vote of Congress, and soon 
ranked among its prominent members. He continued most of the 
time in Congress until 1783, when he was elected Governor of his 
State. His death occurred the year following. 



GEORGE WALTON was bom in Frederick county, Virginia, 
in 1740. His early education was very limited, and at four- 
'CO teen he was apprenticed to a carpenter. His master opposed Iiim 
I"), in his desires after knowledge, and only by the light of pine -torches 
P, in the midnight hour could he find a time for study. But this 
time was well improved, and after finishing his legal studies in 
17 3, was admitted to his profession, in the Colony of Georgia, and 
in which he was eminently successful. In 177G he was elected to i j\ j! 
the General Congress. Here he secured the confidence of his con- C}(]] 
federates, and was placed on several important committeeB, — '^ '^' ^ 

^^ also signed the Declaration. In 1778 he returned to Georgia rvM / i 

y became colonel of a regiment. He entered the battalion of Gen. ' iPcU' 

'A Howe at Savannah at the time of its siege, and was taken prisoner, p)tl|K 

(( I but soon after released. In 1779 he was chosen Governor of his ' ^^^ ' 

po State, and in 1780 elected to Congress. After a few mouths stay 

/'/vK'I'' ^^ returned to Georgia, was again elected its Governor, and in 1798 

i&wd Senator in Congress. His death occurred February 2d, 1804. ^ O 




'^^'mi)Q^'^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 




CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Ws the People of Iho United States, In order to form a more perfect 
UnioD, establish justice, Insure domestic tranquility, provide for 
'the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and 
establish this CoxBrrrmnoN for the United States of America. 

'SBCno~l.' All legislative powers herein granted shall bo vested in 
^Congress of tho United States, which shall consist of a Senate and 

of Representatives. , ,, ,, . - 

SBC 3 The House of Keprescntatives shall be composed of mem- 
bers chosen every second year by the people of the several States, 
and the electors In each State shall have the qualification requisite for 
electors dt the most numerous branch of the Slate Legislature, 

No person shaU bo a Representative who shall not have attialncd to 
the age of twenty-live years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, bo an mhabitant of 
that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Eepresentativo and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the sev- 
eral States which may bo includod within this Union , according to their 
respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
number of free persons. Including those bound to service for a term of 
years, and eicluding Indians not taxed, thrce-flfths of all other persons. 
The actual enumeration shall bo made within three years after the first 
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subse- 
quent term of ten years, in such manner as thoy shall by law direct. 
Tho number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
thousand, but each State shall have at least one Representative ; and 
until such enumeration shall be ma.le, tho State of New Hampshire 
shall be entitled to chooso throe, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island 
and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. New York six. New 
Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland Bix, Virgin la 
ten, Nortn Carolina five. South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 

When vacancies happen in tho representation from any State, Ihe 
Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such 
vacancies. ^ , , .u 

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other 
officers ; and shall have the solo power of impeachment. 

SEC 3 Tho Senate of tho United States shall bo composed of two 
Senators from each Slate, chosen by the Legislature thereof , for six 
years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. 

Immediately after they shall bo assembled in consequence of the first 
election, thoy shall be dividedas equally as maybe into three classes. 
Tho seats of the Senators of the first class shall bo vacated at tho expira- 
tion of tho second year, of tho second class at tho expiration of tho tourth 
year and of tho third class at tho expiration of tho sixth y-ar, so that 
one-third may bo chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen 
by resignation, or otherwise during tho recess of tho Legislature of 
any State, tho Executive thereof may make temporary appointments 
untu tho next meeting of tho Legislature, which shall then fill such 
vacaacies. 

No person shall be a a Senator who shall not have attained to tho age 
of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of tho United States, and 
who shall not, when elected, oe an innauiiaui or lUat State for which 
ho shall be chosen. , „ ^ „ .j . , .v, 

Tho Vice-President of the United States shall bo President of tho 
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they bo equally divided. 

Tho Senate shall chooso their olher officers, and also a President pro 
tempore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise 
tho offlco of President of tho United States. 

Tho Senate shall have tho solo power to try all impeachments. When 
sitting for that purpose, t»y shall be on oath or aflirmation. When 
tho President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall pro- 
Bido : And no person shall bo convicted without tho concurrence of two- 
thirds of tho members present. , ^ .. .V. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to 
removal from offlco, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of 
honor, trust or profit under the United States ; but iho party convic- 
ted sh.all noverthcloBS bo liable and subject to indictment, trial judg- 
ment and punishment, according to law. 

Sko. 4. Tho times, places and manner lor holding elections for Senators 
and Representatives,Bhall be prescribed in each State by the Legisla- 
ture thereof ; but tho Congress may at any lime by law make or 
alter such regulations, except as to tho places of choosing Senators. 

Tho Congress shall assemble at least ouce in every year, and such 
meeting shall bo on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by 
law appoint a difi"orent day. 

Sso. 6. Each House shall bo Iho Judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall consti- 
tute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may adjourn 
from day to day , and may bo authorized to compel tho attendance of 
absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each 
House may provide. 

Each House may determine tho Rules of its Proceodiugs, punish its 
members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurieucc of two- 
thirds, expel a member. 

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, aud from time to 
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgiucul 
require secrecy ; and tho Yeas i'ud Nays of tho members of either 
House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present , 
be entered on the Journal. 

Neither House, during tho session of Congress, shall, without tho 
consent of the other , adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which tho two Houses shall be Bitting. 
I Sec 6. The Senators and Represenalivos shall receive a compensa 
tion for their services, to be ascertained by law and paid out of the trea- 
sury or the United States. They shall In all ca,ses except treason, fel- 
ony, and breach of tho peace, be privileged from arrest during their 
attendcnco at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to 
and returning from tho same ; and for any speech or debate in either 
House, they shall not be questioned in any other place. 

No Senator or Representative shall, during the time lor which he was 
elected, bo appointed to any civil office under the aulhority of the 
United States, which shall have been createB or the emoluments whereof 
shall have been increased during such time ; and no person holding 
any office under tho United States shall bo a member of t itlicr House 
[during his continuauce iu office. 



Sko. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in tho House ot 
Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with amend- 
ments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and 
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the Presi- 
dent of tho United States : If ho approve, he shall sign it ; but if not 
he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall 
have originated, who shall enter tho objections at large on their Journal 
aud proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration , two-thirds 
of that House shall agree to pass tho bill, it shall bo sent , together with 
the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise bo rocon- 
slJcrod, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shsll become 
a law. Rutin all such cases the votes of both Houses shall bo de- 
termined by Yeas and Nays, and tho names of tho persons voting for 
and against the bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House re- 
spectively. If any bill shall not bo returned by tho President within 
ten days (Sundays excepted) alter it shall have been presented to him, 
tho samoshallbualaw, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless 
the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it 
shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which tho concurrence of tho 
Sonato and Houso ot Representatives may bo necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of tho 
United States ; and before the same shall take effect, shall bo approved 
by him ; or, being disapproved by him, shall bo repassed by two-thirds 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, accordmg to tho rules and 
limitations prescribed in the ease of a bill. 
Sec. 8. Tho CemgrosB shall have Power — 

To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay tho 
debts and provide for tho common defence and general welfare of tho 
United States ; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall ho uniform 
throughout the United States : 
To borrow money on tho credit of tho United States ; 
To regulate commerce with foreign nations, aud among tho several 
States, and with the Indian tribes ; 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on 
the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 

To coin money, regulate tho value thereof and of fireign coin, and 
fix tho standard of weights and measures ; 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
current coin of the United States ; 
To establish post offices and post roads ; 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for 
limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their re- 
spective writings and discoveries ; 
To constitute tribunals mferior to the Supremo Court ; 
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
seas, and offences against the law of nations ; 

To declare war, graut letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules 
concerning captures on land and water ; 

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that 
use shall bo for a longer term than two years ; 
To provide auti maintain a navy : 

To make rules for tho government and regulation of tho land and 
naval forces ; 

To provide for calling forth tho militia to execute the laws of Iho 
Union, suppress insurTectious and repel invasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining tho militia, aud 
for governing such part of them as may be employed in tho service of 
tho United States, reservmg to tho Stales respectively tho appointmeut 
of tho officers, and the authority of training the militia according to 
tho disciplino prescribed by Congress ; 

To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over such 
district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of parti- 
cular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of tho 
Government of tho United States, and to exercise like authority over 
all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in 
which tho same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenaW, 
dock yards and other needful buildings ; — And 

To make all laws which shall be necessary .and proper for carrying 
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other Powers vested by 
this Constitution in the Government of tho United Slates, or in auy 
department or officer thereof. 

SKO. 9. Tho migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall nut bo prohibited 
by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eighthundred and eight, 
but a tax or duty may bo imposed on such importation, uot exceeding 
ton dollars for each person. 

Tho privilege of tho Writ of Habeas Corpus sh.all not bo suspended , 
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, tho public safety may 
require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law sh.all be passed. 
No capitation, or other direct tax shall bo laid, unless in proportion 
to the census or enumeration horeiubeforo directed to bo taken. 
No tax or duty shall bo laid on articles exported from any State. 
No preference shall bo given by any regulation of commerce or revo- 
nue to tho ports of ono Stole over those of another ; nor shall vessels 
hound to or from one Stale, bo obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

No money shall be drawn Irom the treasury but in conscqucuce of 
npiiropriations made by law ; aud a rcgul.ar stiUement aud account of 
tho receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published 
from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the United Stales ; And no 
person holding any office of profit or trust under tlieni shall, without 
tho consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or 
title of anv kind whatever, from any king, prince, or loroign State. 

Skc. 10."No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederal 
tion ; grant letters ol marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of 
credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a leudcr in payment of 
debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ox post facto law, or law impairing 
the obligation of contr.acts, or grant any title of nobility. 

No State shall, without Iho consent of the Congress, lay any imposts 
or duties on imports or exports, except what may bo absolutely ncces 
sary for executing its inspection laws ; and the net produce orall dune; 
aud impobls, laid by any Slate un imports or exports, shiill bo for th 



6l" 



^1f=l 



^ 




fp 



ISC uf the treasury of the United States j anJ all such^aws shall bo' 
subject to the revision and control of tho Congress. 

No Stale shall, without the consent of Congress,"' lay any duty 'of 
tounage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any 
agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or 
engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as 

will not admit of delay. " "- ' 

'ARTICLE 11. 
SEonoN 1. Tho Executive Power shall be vested in a President of tho' 
United States of America. He sUall hold his offlco during tho tt^rm of 
four years, and, together with tho Vice-Prcsidcut, chosen for the same 
term, be elected, as follows . 

Eiich State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof 
may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Sena- 
tors and Reprcscntativi s to which tho State may be entitled in the 
Congress : but no Senator or Representative, or perseu holding auj 
offlco of trust or profit under tho United States, shall be appointed an! 
Elector. " "* 

[Tho Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Bal-' 
lot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not bo an inhabitant of 
the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the 
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they 
shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the scat of the Govern- 
ment of the United States, directed to the President of tho Senate. Tho 
President of the Senate shall, in tho presence of the Senate and House 
of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the votes shall then 
be counted. Ihe person having the greatest number of votes shall be 
the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
Electors appointed : and if there bo more than cue who have such ma- 
jority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Repre- 
sentatives shall immediately choose by Ballot one of them for Presi- 
dent; and if no person have a majority, then from the fivo highest on the 
list tho said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in 
choosing the President, tho votes shall be taken by States, the Repre- 
sentation from each State having one vote ; A Quorum for this purpose 
ehall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, 
and a majority of all tho States shall be necessary to a choice. In every 
case, after the choice of the President, tho person having the greatest 
number of votes of the Electors shall bo the Vice-President. But if 
there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate 
shall choose from them by Ballot the Vice-President.] 

Tho Congress may determine the time of choosing tho Electors, and 
tho day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall bo the 
same throughout the United States. 

No person except a natural-born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United 
States, at the time of tho adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible 
to the office of President ; neither shall any person be eligible to that 
office who shall not have attained to tho age of tliirty-flve years, and 
been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, res- 
ignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of tho said 
office, the same shall dtvolve on tho Vice-President, and the Congress 
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or 
inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declareing what 
offlcer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, 
until tho disability bo removed, or a President shall be elected. 

Tho Prcsideutshall, at stated times, receive for his services a com- 
pensation, which shall neither bo increased nor diminished during the 
period f<ir which he shall have been elected, and bo eknUI not receive 
within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any 
of thcra. 

Before he enter on the execution of his offlco, ho shall take tho fol- 
lowing oath or afflrmation : 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute tho 
office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my 
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of tho United 
States." 

Sec. 2. Tho President shall bo Commander-in-Chief of the Army and 
Navy of the United States, andol the Militia of the several States, when 
called into tho actual service of the United States; he may require the 
opinion, in writing, of the principal offlcer in each of the l6cecutive De- 
partments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen- 
ate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of tho Senators present con- 
cur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Con- 
suls, Judges of the Supremo Court, and all other officers of the United 
States, wboso appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and 
which shall bo established by law : but the Congress may by law vest 
the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in tho 
President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 
Tho Proi^idenl shall have jxiwer to fill up all vacancies that may hap- 
pen during the recess of tho Senate, by granting commissions, which 
shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Sec. 3. He shall from lime to time give to the Congress information 
of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; he may, on extra- 
ordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them ; and in 
case of disagreement between them, with respect to tho time of ad- 
journment, he may adjourn them lo such time as ho shall think proper ; 
he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers ; ho shall take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all tho 
officers of the United S tales. 

Sec. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all Civil Officers of tho 
United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and 
conviction of, Treason, Bribery , or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. 
ARTICLE III. 
Section 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested 
in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may 
from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges both of the Su- 
premo and inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good bohavior, 



and shall, at staled times,' receive for their services a'compensatiou, 
which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. ^"* 
' Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in Ijiw^and 
Equity, arising under this Conslituti u, tho Laws of the United States,' 
and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority ; — 
lo all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, and Con-] 
suls ; — to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction ; — to contro-i 
versies to which the United States shall bo a party ; — to controversies' 
between two or more States ; — between a State and citizens of an-' 
other State ; — between citizens of diflercnt States ;— between citizens of 
the same State claiming lands under grants of dilfereut States, and bc-| 
tween a Stale, or tho citizens thereof and foreign States, citizens or; 
subjects. 

• In all cases ailocting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Con-j 
suls, and those in which a State shall bo party, the Supremo Court 
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mention-' 
ed, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law) 
and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Con- 
gress shall m;ike. 

\ Tho trial of all crimes, except in cases of Impeachment, shall bo by 
jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes 
shall have been committed ; but when not committed within any Stale 
the trial shall be at such place or places as tho Congress may by law . 
have directed. 

f Sec. 3. Treason against tho United States shall consist only in levy-* 
ing war against tbem, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aiil 
and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the 
testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in 
open Court. 

The Congress sfeall have power to declare the punishment of treason 
but, no Attainder (»f Treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfei- 
ture, except during the life of the person attainted. 
ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. Full faith and credit shall bo given in each State to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. 
And tho Congress may by general laws prescribe tho manner in which 
such acts, lecords, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect 
thereof. 

Sko. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privleges 
and immunities of citizens in tho several States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, 
who shall ileo fVom justice, and be found in another State, shall, on de- 
mand of the executive authority of the Slate from which he lied, be 
delivered up, to be removed to the Slate havingjurisdiction of tho crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws there- 
of, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regula. 
tion therein, bo discharged from such service or labor, but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may 
be due. 

Sec. 3. New States may bo admitted by the Congress into this Union ; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within tho jurisdiction of 
any other State ; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or 
more States, or parts of States, without tho consent of the Legislatures 
of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful 
rules and regulations respecting the territory or other properly belong- 
ing to the United States ; and nothing in this Constitution shall bo so 
construed as to prejudice any claims of tho United States, or of any 
particular State. 

Sec. 4. The United Stafes shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a republican form of Government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion ; anrl on application of the Legislature, or of the Eiec- 
utivo (when the Legislative cannot be convoned) , against domestic 
violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

Tho Congress, whencTcr two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it 
necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on tho 
application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several Stales, shall 
call a Convention for proposing Amendments, whiih, in either case, 
shall be valid to all inti-nts and purposes, as part of this Constitution, 
when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several Stales, 
<T by Con ventittns in three-fourths there; f , as the one or the other mode 
of ratification maybe proposed by tho Congress: — Promdedyihat no 
Amendment which may bo made prior to tho year one thousand eight 
hundred and eight shall inauy manner alTect the first and fourth Clauses 
in tho Ninth section of the flfst Article ; and that no State, without its 
consent, shall bo deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 
ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted and engagements entered into before tho adop- 
tion of this Constitution, shall bo as valid against the United Slates, 
under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

Tills Constitution jmd the laws of the United Stales which shall bo 
made in pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shaJl be 
made, under the authority of the United Stales, shall be the supremo 
law of the land ; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, 
anything in the Constitution or laws of any Slate lo the contrarj- not- 
with- landing. 

Tho Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and tho mem- 
bers of the Several Stale Legislatures, and all executive and judicial 
officers, both of the United States and of the several Slates, shall be 
bound by oath or afflrmation to support this Constitution ; but no re- 
ligious test shall ever bo required as a qualification to any office cr pub- 
lic trust under tho United Stales. 




ARTICLE VII. 
1 of tho Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient 
lent of this Constitution between tho Slates so ralify- 



Tho ratificatint 
for the establish n 
ing the same. 

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the Stales present, 
the sevcnteentU day of September, in the year of our I/>rd one 
thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independ- 
ence of tho United Stales of America .the twelfth. In ■Witness 
whereof, wo have hereunto subscribed our names. 

GEORGE Washington; 

f resident and Deputy from Virginia. 




AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 



.A-rticles, ia^L ctclca-xt±c:>n to, a,ia.cL -A.xiaeaxcLinoaa.t of, tli© OoiistitTJi-tioii of tlae 
XJioitecL Stottos of -A-iixoi-ica , acioiptcci j^T-ii-suLcXiat to tlx& I^if tla .A.i-tiolo of 
til© Oi-igiixEtl Ooixstit-u-tloia. 



ARTICLE I. 

Conprcss shall make no law respecting an establishment 
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or 
abridging the Ireedom of speech, or of the press ; or the 
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the Govemmeut for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE IL 
A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security 
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear 
arms shall not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 
No soldier shall, in time of peace, bo quartered in iuiy 
house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of 
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
hoiises, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches 
anil seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrant shall 
issue ))ut upon probable cause, supported by oath or affir- 
mation, and particularly describing the place to be search- 
ed, and the persons or things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or oth- 
erwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indict- 
ment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in tbe land 
or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in 
time of war or public danger ; nor shall any person be 
subject for tbe same offence to bo twice put in joapordy of 
life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case 
to be a witne.ss against himself, nor be deprived of life, 
liberty, or property witho\it due process of law ; nor 
shall private property be taken for public use without just 
compensation. 

ARTICLE VL 
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the 
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of 
the State and district wherein the crime shall have been 
committed, which district shall have been previously 
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and 
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with the witnes- 
ses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of coun- 
sel for his defence. 

ARTICLE VII. 
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury 
shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be 
otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, 
than according to the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excssive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted, 



ARTICLE IX. 
The enumeration in the Constitution of certin rights, 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained 
by the people. 

ARTICLE X. 
The powers not delegated to the United States by the 
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reser- 
ved to the States respectively, or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI. 
The judicial power of the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, com- 
menced or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any 
foreign State. ~ ^ —' 

ARTICLE XII. 
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and " 
vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of 
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
State with themselves ; they shall name in their ballot the 
person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the 
person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make 
distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of 
all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number 
of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, 
and transmit sealed to the seat of government of the Uni- 
ted States, directed to the President of the Senate : — The 
President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, 
and the votes shall then be counted ; — The person having 
the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the 
President, ifeuch ndmber be a majority of the whole num- 
ber of Electors appointed ; and if no person have such 
majority, then from the persons having the highest num- 
bers, not exceeding three, on tbe list of those voted for as 
President, the House of Representatives shall choose im- 
mediately by ballot the President. But in choosing the 
President, the votes shall be taken by States, the repre- 
sentation from each State having one ; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or members from two- 
thirds of the States and a majority of all the States shall 
be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Represen- 
tatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of 
choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of 
March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as 
President as in the case of the death or other constitutional 
disability of the President. The person having the grea- 
test number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice- 
President, If such number be a majority of the whole 
number of Electors appointed ; and if no person have a 
majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, 
the Senate shall choose the Vice-President ; a quorum for 
the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole num- 
ber of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall 
be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally 
ineligible to the office of President, shall he eligible to 
that of Vice-President of the United States. 

*The first ten of tht? AMENnsrexra were prop 'scd September 25, 1789, 
an"! ratified December 15, 17U1 ; the eleventh, January 8, 1798 ; the 
twelfth, September 25, 1804. 



Note.— The Cox.sTiTrTioN was adopted on the 17th September, 1787, by the Convention appointed in pursuance of the Resolu- 
tion of the Congress of the Confederation, of the 21st February, 1787, and ratified by the Conventions of the several States, as 
follows: Delaware, December 7tb, 1787 ; Pennsylvania, December 12th. 1787 ; New Jersey. December 18tb, 1787 ; Georgia, Janu- 
ary 2d, 17SS ; Connecticut. January 9th, 1788 ; Massachusetts. Eebruary fith, 1788 ; Maryland, April 28tb, 1788 ; South Carolina, 
May 23d, 1788 ; New Hamiishire. June 21jt, 1788 ; Vii-giuia, June 2Uth. 1788 : New York, July 2Gth, 17S8 i North Carolina. Nov 
Silst, 1789 ; Rhode! Island, May 29th, 1790. 





AS AMENDED AND ADOPTED BY CONGEESS. 



In Congress, July 4, 1776. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes 
necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 
which have connected them with another, and to assume, 
among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal sta- 
tion to which the laws of nature and of nature's God enti- 
tle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind re- 
quires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the seperation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain unalienable rights ; that among these, are life, 
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secui'e these 
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that, 
whenever any form of government becomes destructive of 
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abol- 
ish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foun- 
dation on such principles, and organizing its powers in 
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
safety and happiness. Pnulence, indeed, will dictate that 
governments long established, should not be changed for 
light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience 
hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while 
evils are sufiferable, than to right themselves by abolishing 
the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long 
train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing, invariably the 
same object, evinces a design to reduce them under abso- 
lute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw 
off such government, and to provide new guards for their 
future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of 
these colonies, and such is now the necessity which con- 
strains them to alter their former system of government. 
The history of the present King of Great Britian is a his- 
tory of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in 
direct object, the establishment of a»a absolute tyranny 
over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to 
a candid world : 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immedi- 
ate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their op- 
eration till his assent should be obtained ; and when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accomodation 
of large districts of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in the legislature ; 
a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places un- 
usual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
into compliance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for 
opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights 
of the people. 

He has veftised, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative 
powers, incapable of annihilation, have retui-ned to the 
people at large for their exercise ; the state remaining, in 
the mean time, exposed to all the danger of invasion from 
without, and convulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
states ; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturali- 
zation of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage 
migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appro- 
priations of lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refu- 
sing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of 
their salaries. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their 
substance. 

He has kept among ils in times of peace, standing armies 
without the consent of our legislature. 

lie has affected to render the military iuilependeut of, 
uid superior to, the civil power. 




He has combined, with others, to subject us to a juris- 
diction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged 
by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended 
legislation : 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

For protecting, them by a mock trial, from punishment, 
for any murders which they should commit on the inhabi- 
tants of these states ; 

For cutting oft' our trade with all parts of the world ; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent ; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the beuefifs of trial 
by jui-y ; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for jireten- 
ded offences ; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws iu a 
neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render 
it at once anexamble and tit instrument for introducing 
the same absolute rule into these colonies ; 

For taking away ovir charters, abolishing our most valu- 
able laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our 
governments ; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
oases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out 
of his protection, and waging war against us. 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt 
our towns, and destroyed the lives of oui' people. 

He is, at this time transporting large armies of foreign 
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, 
and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 
" He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captivu ou 
the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to be- 
come the executioners of their frends and brethren, or to 
fall themselves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrection amongst us, and 
has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our fron- 
tiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of 
warfare is an undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sex- 
es, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned 
for redress, in the most humble terms ; our repeated peti- 
tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A 
prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which 
may define a tyrant, is unfit to be ruler of a free peoi)le. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British 
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of 
attempts made by their legislature to extend an unwar- 
rantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of 
the circiunstances of our emigration and settlement here. 
We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, 
and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common 
kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevi- 
tably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They, 
too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consan- 
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce iu the necessity, 
which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we 
hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war — in peace, 
friends. _ 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States 
of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to 
the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our 
intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the 
good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and de- 
clare, That these United Colonies are, and of right oukIH 
to be, Free and Independent States ; that they are ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that 
all political connection between them and the State of 
Great Britain, is, and ought to bo, totally .dissolved ; and 
that, as Free and Independent States, they have full power 
to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish 
commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Inde- 
pendent States may of right do. And, for the support of 
this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of 
Divine Frovideuce, we mutually pledge to each other, our, 
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 



O'. 







